Taking the Long Way Home to Nashville

GUEST MENTOR Christian Spears, co-founder of Tennessee Brew Works, Nashville, Tenn.: A startup begins with an idea. From there it gets complicated, as one must postulate how to monetize the idea and, of course, source the capital to build upon these theories. Should one successfully navigate beyond that point, it gets even more difficult. Of course, a little good fortune never hurts and, thus, I am compelled to recognize the Nashville community for just such fortune.

My business partner, Garr Schwartz, and I formed our alliance to build the Tennessee Brew Works craft brewery in late 2010 and formerly set about the endeavor in 2011. More than two years later, we’ve raised seven figures in capital for what many would consider an esoteric business investment and are currently renovating an approximately 22,000 square foot facility that will contain our brew house and tasting room (the “Tennessee TapRoom”). But what is most interesting about our startup is that all of our investors live here in Tennessee!

So, we have our idea, capital and a plan to monetize it.Why did we choose Nashville?

Well, for one, my business partner was raised here. He’s our brewmaster, and has long dreamed of bringing his craft beer creations to his hometown. So that was as good a reason as any to consider Nashville for our business home base. You might even say that us discovering Nashville’s potential was a coincidence. I’ll just call it plain old good fortune.

There are no shortcuts with a startup. When you start your own business, you need to hustle for everything. You must be extremely frugal, although some corners just can’t be cut, like legal and accounting. Show diligence and read the documents to save on time spent with your legal counsel, for example. Otherwise, the math of the startup just won’t work; assuming, that is, you desire a profit. No meals on the company dime unless they are with a client or prospect.

Negotiate everything with vigor. Read all the fine print. No matter your level of competence, you must try to understand everything from the architectural designs of your space to the lease agreement legalese. Follow the “Rule of 3”: Three quotes for all outsourced jobs! You are responsible for everything at an enormously fragile time for the company.

But what we have discovered is simple: You can’t do it alone.

What we are doing — and I imagine this is true for most startup businesses — requires a large amount of outside support beyond capital. We certainly have needed the support of our family and friends. But what we found in Nashville was a surprisingly high level of support from the community.

Well, welcome to Nashville: Or as GQ put it “Nowville.” Rolling Stone deemed the town, “Music City, USA.” It’s the home to many musical greats, the Ryman Grand Ole Opry, Broadway Honky Tonks (aka “Nashvegas”) and many a celebrity. We even have our own show on ABC.

In our case, using local companies such as CentreSource with our website, the talented Collide Creative illustrators for our logos and designs, and the ingenuity of our architects at Powell Design — all local startups — we met our budgets and exceeded our quality expectations. In Nashville we are finding world-class talent that is accessible on a startup budget. And just as our investors help us access their networks, these local companies support us in a similar manner.

But our success here is not the outlier. The landscape for startups in this city is bulging with opportunity.

And sure, the music industry is big — very big — here. But did you know that Nashville is the Mecca for healthcare, with some of largest for-profit healthcare entities in the U.S. right here? And while large companies such as LifePoint and HCA (which was founded here) are the most identifiable, there are a large number of smaller startup healthcare-technology firms that have spawned here.

The opportunities here are immense. I guess that’s why Nashville for two years running has one of the fastest job growth rates in the country which, according to a 2012 Kiplinger report, was four times as fast as the U.S. as a whole.

I think we make great beer. My business partner is a truly talented brewer. Together we are going to bring a quality product to this community. Our tasting room opens this spring. But really, we couldn’t have done it without the Nashville community. That has been the secret to our success.

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